


Ultimate Hunt

by Sagartolen



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Action/Adventure, Crossover, Culture Shock, Dimension Travel, Displacement, Exams, Gen, Harry-centric, Hunter - Freeform, Master of Death, Powerful Harry, Smart Harry, Travel, World Travel, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-16
Updated: 2016-03-17
Packaged: 2018-05-07 04:02:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5442632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sagartolen/pseuds/Sagartolen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Master of Death Harry awakens in a new world. Again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“So, are you boarding?”

Harry blinked down at the shorter, heavily sunburned, older man currently giving him an irritated glare. He looked around, glancing left then right, squinting up at the overly bright sun. On either side of him stretched a quant looking seaport complete with fish mongers, a small fleet of fishing boats and market stalls.

“I haven’t got all bleeding day,” the man snapped at his continued silence.

A warm breeze carrying the heavy sent of salt dragged at his cloak, causing it to flap behind him. No immediate danger. That was nice.

He scratched his head, “Sorry,” he slowly looked back to the old man, “don’t suppose you could tell me where we’re going,”

The old man gave him a funny look, crossing his arms.

“If ya don’t know that then I don’t think this is the boat for you sonny,”

“Hehe,” he looked at the solid wooden ship, sporting gas lanterns and large unfurled sails, which were billowing in the breeze.

“No…” he hesitated looking around. He felt a familiar compulsion telling him he needed to board this ship.

“I’m fine, I think I’m fine,” he replied.

The man was giving him an even stranger expression. Obviously, his hesitation was not winning him any points.

“Well get on,”

Slowly, still acclimatizing to the suddenly cleaner air and being unexpectedly outside, Harry boarded the ship.

The old man huffed, muttering under his breath.

Harry, putting the encounter behind him for now, continued past the ships railing. His entrance was greeted with several threatening glares. However, they lacked any distinct malice or real killing intent, allowing him to classify them as relative non-threats. He glanced back at the shore, watching people rush about, prepping the ship for departure.

He looked around the deck. Groups of ruff looking men congregated, the source of the glares. He got the familiar sensation of being sized up. For what purpose he had no idea. It was not like he had done much in the whole five minuets he had been in this dimension. Harry eyed their weapons with interest. All swords, spears and what not. That coupled with the odd fashion and old style sailing ship meant he was in a less technologically advanced world. Probably…

It was never a good idea to draw hasty conclusions about anything. If there was one rule he stuck to it was that.

Harry wasted no time in finding the nearest corner and situating himself into it, ensuring he had full view to the ships occupants. No matter how many times or how prepared he was, ending up in these new locations always threw him. He took a few deep breaths. He had to hand it to whatever world this was, it had nice clean air.

Or perhaps, this part of the world had clean air, who knew what the rest of it was like. He leant back, allowing his head to thump against wood, taking another deep breath. Seagulls called overhead.

It would be nice to know where the ship was going. Not that it would do much good, this being a new world meant he was back to square one in regards to his knowledge of geography. The old mans reaction to his earlier question suggested that asking might not be in his best interest.

Whatever the case, the tingly feeling-the one that told him where to go and what to do- told him that boarding this ship was the correct course of action. After a few hundred years following the directions of said tingly feeling he had gotten rather good at it. So there was nothing to do but wait and see how things played out.

The boat stopped several more times at various islands, prompting him out of his corner. All the islands were similar to the one he had arrived on. He spent his time hanging over the railing examining pointed tile roves. He had the region pegged as low-tech agricultural, until he saw a very modern looking car in one town, throwing his estimates out. Perhaps this was a less developed region.

After another odd look, curtsey of the old man-who he now knew was the Captain- and he retreated further on deck. It had been several hours since their last stop and there was only so much open ocean you could watch before it got a bit dull.

“A huge storms coming!”

Harry paused, glancing up towards the source of the shouting. A kid with ridiculously green spiky hair was shouting from the crowsnest-that was what it was called right?- causing several people to look up in annoyance. Everyone looked and dressed rather oddly here, enough so that his long crimson cloak barely received a glance. He would have to alter it later when there was less people around. Bright red, while perfect in his previous dimension, stood out too much here.

He sighed, glancing around, he didn’t see any clouds. But that didn’t mean anything. Whether the kid’s weather prediction was accurate or not Harry felt it best to move inside for the time being. The sun, and its brightness, was causing his eyes to itch.

. . . . . . . . . . . .  
The kid was right about the storm.

Harry winced as the ship lurched to one side, throwing some unfortunate soul across the room. For a group of such ruff looking men they did not handle seasickness very well. He shuffled back, getting into a more comfortable position. The crate he had been occupying for the past few hours wasn’t the most comfy of spots but it was high up and in a corner so it worked for him.

Harry cycled a bit of magic through his system, ridding himself of any drowsiness. It had almost been two days since he had last slept. Luckily, refreshments had been provided earlier, meaning he did not have to worry about food. Which was nice. This dimension jump had caught him by surprise and he was determined to get at lest some understanding before getting some rest.

“Oi, you,” Harry glanced over at the ship-hand standing before him.

“The Captain wants to speak to you,”

He gave the man a once over, he seamed genuine enough. He slung his legs off the crate.

“Yeah, sure,” he shrugged, standing and stretching out his arms. The ship pitched sideward, causing several people behind him to groan.

Maybe, it was time to get some answers.

The ship-hand led him to the control room, or whatever it was called, letting him inside.

“There you are,” the Captain greeted him with a grin, lighting a pipe and taking a long breath. He glanced curiously around the enclosed room. No immediate danger. The green spiky hair kid was there, as was a blond teen and a taller man with a briefcase.

The Captain waved at the man who fetched him, “Right that’s all of em.”

He then gave them all an appraising looks and Harry once again got that odd feeling of being sized up and evaluated.

“First, let’s hear your names,” the Captain grinned, gesturing towards them.

“I’m Gon,” spikey hair kid was quick to reply with great enthusiasm.

“I’m Kurapika,”

“It’s Leorio,”

“Harry,” he offered when attention focused on him. The Captain puffed on his pipe.

“And why do you want to became Hunters?”

Hunters? Harry turned the term over in his head. A hunter of what?

Harry sent a light mental probe towards the captain. He had never been very good with legimancy- even after a few centuries of practice- that and a few unfortunate encounters had left him very weary of using it despite the advantages it offered someone like him. However, he had gotten quite good at picking up surface inflection and intension.

Hunter with a capital ‘H.’ The way it was phrased suggesting something more than simple animal hunting. The captain seamed to have many positive associations with the term. It was something important.

In his moment of distraction he missed the kid, Gon’s, spiel about his dad leaving him and wanting to follow in his footsteps. Luckily, the taller man took offence to Gon’s open nature, delivering a mini lecture on why not to blurt out personal secrets in front of strangers.

It gave him enough time to conclude that a Hunter was a profession of some sort.

“In other words you refuse to answer my question,” the Captain said when everyone else gave reasons why not to answer the question.

Harry decided to also remain silent mostly because he did not quite know what was going on.

“Hey Kasue. Tell the exam board we have three more drop outs.”

“Huh?” was the intelligent response from his fellows.

An exam, huh. Was he in an exam? It explained a few things. Like the looks he had been receiving and the Captains confusion upon his questioning their destination.

The Captain frowned taking a puff of his pipe, “ You still haven’t figured it out...”

“The Hunter Exam has already begun,”

“What!”

Harry watched as the Captain rolled his eyes then jabbed his pipe in Leorio’s direction.

“There are as many hunter wanabees as there are stars in the sky. It would be impossible for the examiners to sort through all of them.”

He blew smoke in their direction

“So I trim the fat. If you can’t sand a little storm then the Hunter exam is a death sentence,” he said, probably referring to the cabin of unconscious bodies.

“In other words to continue the exam you need my approval,”

The end of the Captains small monologue was met with grumblings. So he was on a boat heading to some sort of exam site. An important exam site. A Hunter was definitely some sort of important position/occupation if there were so many participants.

The blond haired teen… Kurapika…after spending a few seconds deep in thought finally spoke, “I am the last survivor of the Kurta Clan.”

There was a sudden tension in the air.

“Four years ago my clan was eliminated by a band of criminals. I wish to become a Hunter and hunt down that group…”

“The Phantom troop”

Silence.

Well shit. Harry frowned, taking in the blond hair boy for thoroughly. His eyes were flashing. Gon and Leorio were shocked but not overly so, meaning that this sort of thing, though not common, wasn’t unusual. The Captain also seamed to take this revelation with a grim acceptance. .

“So you want to be a Bounty Hunter. The Phantom Troop is an A-class bounty. You would be throwing your life away,” the Captain warned.

Obviously this Phantom Troop was nothing to sneeze at.

“I do not fear death. I fear only that my rage will fade over time,”

He seamed pretty serious. Not overly strong, not currently, but who knew what sort of tricks he had up his sleeve. And he had seen where that sort of motivation could get a person.

“So, in other words, you want revenge,” Leorio interrupted, “Does that even require you to become a hunter?”

The response was met with a rather snobbish, “That my be the stupidest question ever,”

Harry tuned out the next exchange of insults out. Only listening when Kurapika elaborated on the facets of Huntership.

Information otherwise unobtainable.

Travel to places and lands unreachable?

So a Hunter was a social status, one achieved through an exam? Affording something akin to an unlimited travel pass. He could see why attaining a Hunter pass-license?- would be advantageous.

“What about you mister!” He blinked looking down at Gon who was standing a bit too close, “Why do you want to become a hunter?”

He glanced toward the other three all of whom were focusing on him.

“Uh,” he hesitated, “money,” he ended up saying with a shrug, repeating Leorio’s response. It seamed like a legit enough reason.

“Haha!” Leorio all but shouted, turning back to Kurapika “see!”

He watched in bemusement as Leorio and Kurapika literally ‘took it outside.’

“Hey, I’m not finished yet!” The Captain shouted after them, sounding slightly exasperated.

He shoved his hands in his coat’s pockets, wondering what he needed to do to get the Captain’s seal of approval. The tingly feeling was back and telling him that he needed to enter the Hunter exam. Perhaps he should have made up a more impressive reason for becoming a Hunter.

“Let them go,” Gon’s voice drew him from his thoughts.

“Mito once told me. If you want to get to know someone you need to make an effort to learn why they are angry. Its important for them to understand why they’re mad.”

“So we should let them settle it themselves,”

Gon sounded young and Harry had him pegged as either 10, 11 or 12 years old. He eyed the kid. There was a certain generality and strength to him despite his youth.

It was safe to say that this world was a dangerous one. One where a kid could enter into a potentially deadly exam without any fanfare. One where genocide was met with sympathy but not surprise. Not for the first time, and definitely not the last, Harry felt for the familiar surface of the Elder Wand.

“Capatin!” The panicked shout caused him to tense. His grip on the Elder Wand tightened.

“Water Spout!”

“What!” The Captain spun and rushed to the wheel. Harry forced himself to relaxe.

“If we get caught wer’re done. The ship’ll sink!”

“Lower the sails,” the Captain snapped, “hurry,”

“Ay,”

“I’ll help!” the kid was quick to offer, rushing after the ship-hands.

Harry also followed. If there was any time to ‘prove his worth’ this would be it. That and he did feel he ought to offer some assistance, what with people being in danger and this being his current ride.

He braced as the ship took a hard right, throwing the man in front of him into the wall. He inhaled and drew magic into his limbs, giving him a greater sense of balance. He breathed out, focusing on the twisty warmth as magic wormed its way into his muscles.

As he past he pulled the ship-hand upright, preventing him from being slammed into the wall again.

“You Okay,” he steadied the man. Surreptitiously, he focused magic into his palm, running a surface probe over the other. No serious damaged detected.

“Yeah. Thanks. That last one really took me by surprise,” he was given a smile.

Harry arrived on deck just in time to see the spikey haired kid take a suicide leap off the edge of the boat. He blinked, both because of the rain and the suddenness of the action. Thankfully, Leorio and Kurapika- for whatever reason -were both there to catch him.

“Hey, you,” a rope was thrust into his hand, “help us pull,”

He spent the rest of the night pulling said rope alongside several other men. He did manage to spot the reason for Gon’s dive. Apparently, he was saving someone’s life.

Hmm. If the people on this ship was an accurate representation of this world’s character then maybe things wouldn't be so bad. He doubted it…there was a lot of evidence suggesting otherwise…but it was a nice thought.

Finally, dawn broke and the sea quietened. Harry wasted not time in returning to his crate, and settling down for a rest. The air shimmered around him as he activated some simple protection and shield wards. The air buzzed as he filled it with magic. Like many of the placed he’d been, this world lacked the magic he was familiar with.

He lent back, watching Gon, Leorio and Kurapika all settle down in various locations

He supposed being a Hunter was a rather fitting title. It was what he did. Hunting. Hunting endlessly across dimensions, collecting various and seemly random objects. Why? He did not know. Would it ever end? Maybe, one day. All he did know was that each world contained one item that he needed to collect and when he touched said object he would be transported to the next world. Often all he had to go on was a vague tingle in his gut, telling him he was making the right decision. Sort of like being on Félix Felicis.

Harry ruffled a hand through his hair. Another world, something else to find.


	2. Chapter 2

Finally. Harry squinted, adjusting his glasses and watching as their destination came into view. About bloody time. He had come to the conclusion that ocean travel was not for him. It was slow and the scenery didn’t change much, it also provided limited opportunities for information collection. It was especially vexing being on such a crowded ship.

“Harry, was it?”

Harry glanced behind him, dragging his eyes away from the distant shoreline. The Captain was standing a few meters away holding a flask in a very Mad-Eye-ish fashion.

He turned to face him, leaning against the ships wooden rails in a nonchalant manner. Harry watched. He had the Captain pegged as the ruff, honorable type with a bit of experience under his belt. A kind of ‘live by my own code’ type of man. Probably why he was a judge in this ‘Hunter exam.’

“I’ve decided to forgo the testing this year,” the Captain approached till he was level with Harry.

"I quite like em," the Captain said referring to Gon, Kurapika, Leorio, "and you..."

He gave Harry a toothy grin, “You’re an odd one.”

Then a loud and slightly obnoxious laugh, “but there an’t no law against oddness,” The Captain stood straight, “so I’ll be putting your name through alongside the other three.”

“…”

“I don’t think I’ll be seeing you on the sea again so I’ll wish ya luck now,”

His restlessness must be showing.

“That obvious?” he asked mildly.

The Captain laughed again and Harry got an unpleasant whiff of alcohol.

“Kiddo, you’re looking at that slice of land like a staved man eyes a loaf of bread,”

Harry chose not to respond to that and the Captain retreated still laughing. Alongside being slightly bemused at being called kiddo Harry was more interested in the fact that the Captain assumed he would not be traveling by sea again. Which meant that old fashion sailing boats weren’t the only means of travel this world had to offer. Harry had been worried, what with the many small islands he had past, that this was a water world of sorts. So far he had been lucky to avoid large amounts of sea travel and landing on a water world had always been one of his dreads.

He was left to his own devises until Gon came strolling up, a happy smile on his face. What was it with people and approaching him today? He had done nothing to promote this familiarity.

An enthusiastic wave, “Hey! Mister.”

Gon leapt up onto the rail, placing him at head hight. He balanced expertly for several seconds before flopping down to swing his legs back and forth. He looked very relaxed for someone conversing with a stranger.

“Did you pass?”

He was the subject of curious eyes. Harry rubbed his forehead.

“Yeah,” he admitted, adding, “And don’t call me mister.”

“Haha,” Gon rubbed the back of his head, “you remind me of granny,”

He raised an eyebrow. He reminded this kid of an old lady? Oddly perceptive.

“Brat,” he snorted.

Gon opened his mouth as if to ask another question but was distracted by something in the distance.

“Wow!” Gon pointed towards land, “look at that. The buildings are huge!”

He glanced at the row of buildings lining the docks. They were between three and five stories tall. Either these really were some of the largest buildings this world had to offer or Gon had grown up on one of the islands they’d passed without much contact with the outside world. He had a feeling it was the later.

“So cool,” Gon’s eyes were shining and Harry decided it was time for him to head inside. That kind of enthusiasm was annoyingly contagious. Unfortunately, he was developing a begrudging…fondness?...towards Gon. He was reminding him of his own kids and the comparison wasn’t doing anything good.

“I’ll see you in the exam!” Gon enthusiastically called after him, eyes still glued to the approaching landmass.

Finally, the boat pulled into shore. Harry was one of the first to disembark. He let out a relieved sigh. Old fashion sailing ships definitely weren’t for him.

He spent a few minuets, walking up and down the docks, getting a feel for his surroundings. Towards the far end was a buss station and behind the town was a mountain, which slopped gently upwards. Overall the town was very lively, which probably had something to do with the all the Hunter applicants traveling through it.

First things first. He needed a wardrobe change. Harry located the nearest deserted ally and ducked down it. He focused on channeling his magic through the Cloak. After many, so many years it came to him like breathing.

There was a shifting as the Invisibility Cloak twisted and morphed around him, transforming into something subtle: brown pants, brown boots, dulled red shirt, darker brown cloak. Nothing showy, all based on clothing he had seen on the ship. The thing about dimension travel was that, aside from the Deathly Hallows, nothing else came with him, meaning-before he had figured out how to control the cloak- he usually ended up naked. Now he rarely wore anything else.

The Cloak, after a lot of twisting, twirling and general fusing, finally settled into his desired state. He breathed in relief, doing a full outfit change felt a bit…weird.

Now that had been sorted, he rolled his shoulders, enjoying being on solid ground. He strolled leisurely out of the ally, turning towards mountain, which sported a large tree at its peek.

The tingle said he needed to climb the mountain. Which was pretty vague. He reached into his pocket, pulling out the Elder Wand.

He stood for a few seconds, twirling it between his figures. Someone had handed him a pamphlet about a minuet ago telling him to take a bus to Zaban City. Only, from what he had seen, the buses were all headed in the wrong direction. As nice as it might be, to ride a buss the whole way, Harry thought he’d sick with the methods he trusted.

He placed the Elder Wand on his palm.

“Point me: hunter exam,”

Probably one of the only spells he regularly used the Elder Wand to cast. It tended to overpower everything else.

The wand remained still.

“Point me: Hunter exam entrance,”

Nothing. Perhaps he needed something more specific.

“Point me: hunter exam start,”

His wand spun but refused to settle on a direction.

“Point me: hunter exam starting entrance,”

His wand stilled, pointing a little to the left of the mountain. He grinned. Well, that was that. Nothing like a little trek through a forest-a monster infested forest if signs around the city were to be believed-to get the heart pumping.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Zaban City seamed to appear out of nowhere. One minuet it was dense forest the next BAM! ‘Welcome to Zaban City.’

Harry stepped out to the forest, brushing twigs from his hair. A fully mastered invisibility cloak made him completely undetectable form just about anything... but not intangible. So, while he didn’t have to worry about danger beasts-which he assumed were slightly more dangerous then normal beasts- trees, bushes and other foliage remained an issue.

The city was as lively as the seaport had been. Market stalls lined practically every street, selling a large assortment of items. Harry looked them over with interest. Most of the products were crafty in nature, being jewelry, fabrics and other ordainments, but there were a few stalls selling things of a technological nature.

“So these are cell-phones?” He asked one of the vendors.

“Sure are!” the man enthusiastically replied, “And you won’t find better in all of Zaban,”

Harry squinted at the devises. Even if he had been inclined to buy a phone magic reacted badly with most technology no matter the world. So it would probably break sooner rather than later.

“and your in luck because just for today I’m selling at some of my best prices.”

“I think I’ll pass,” he moved away.

So this world had technological advancement after all. He glanced up at the large multi story office buildings. The technology to build buildings like this far outstripped the technological advancement of the several islands he had gone past. Maybe the islands didn’t have access to the advancements. He could not see why they wouldn’t. After a few seconds of consideration he figured it was either a distribution or political problem.

Huh, Harry thought upon finally reaching his destination. It was a restaurant. A small, rather dingy, restaurant with vines growing over the exterior walls. He looked down at his wand then back at the building, taking a few steps to the left and then to the right. The wand remained fixed on that point.

He hummed. Well, it was very unassuming which would make it a good hidden entrance.

“Welcome,” said a cook wearing a white chefs’ hat when he entered.

Nothing too threatening.

“Hi,” he answered.

Harry looked around, curiously taking in the selves packed with ingredients and the rows of high-seated tables. He moved to the back, examining the far wall. The smells of spice and cooked rice were heavy in the air and Harry was very tempted to transfigure some money and get something to eat. Unfortunately, because this world lacked any latent magic, transfigurations wouldn’t last long. Until he did some experimentation it was best not to give people transfigured items which could revert to their original sates at any moment. He continued to poke around, running a hand over the wall.

“You going to order something,” the cook finally asked when Harry begun peering under tables.

He straightened, shoving his hands in his pockets casually, “Maybe.”

That received an irritated scowl, “If you're not going to order anything then I’ll have to ask you to leave. You’re disturbing the customers.”

They did not look very disturbed, he examined the man nearest to him who was sporting an amused expression. He ended up retreating back outside to settle down of a bench opposite the restaurant. There must be some other action he needed to do to get to the exam site. He considered and disregarded compulsion charms or the imperius, it was too soon to start throwing around that sort of magic. It was also unneeded.

So he settled down to watch the restaurant and the people coming and going.

Several hours past before he noticed it. Sometimes several people would enter then only one from the group would return. In fact, far more people entered then exited the restaurant.

Two went in. One came out.

After this pattern repeated a few times he got suspicious. Either the restaurant was a lot bigger then the exterior suggested or the people entering were leaving through some other entrance.

Eventually, he managed to pick out one man who had been in and out of the resultant several times.

“Hi there,” he approached the man after he left the restaurant for the third time unaccompanied by the person he had escorted.

The man paused and Harry immediately picked up his weariness. He made brief eye contact, allowing Harry to lightly brush over his mind. Apparently, the man had noticed him sitting and watching the entrance and was cautious to his intensions. Harry concluded that he probably had something to do with the Hunter Exam.

“Don’t suppose you could tell me how to get to the Hunter Exam.” He went for the direct approach.

“Sorry, don’t know what you're on about,” the man moved away. Harry followed.

“Then where did your friends go? The ones that you went into the restaurant with? You must like the place a lot because you’ve been there three times today,”

“Hnn. You’re not making any sense,”

The man continued on this time faster. Harry sighed, this was probably going to take a while. They want down several alleys, into buildings and through crowds. Sometimes the man ducked into shops for no apparent reason, leaving via different entrances.

Harry followed casually, these were all pretty simple evasion tactics by his standards and he had a feeling that the man was not acting to the best of his abilities. Probably, another test.

After he hit the man with a tracking charm keeping up with him was a lot easier. Though, maintaining the tracking charm was unnaturally difficult, leading to him renewing it several times. Magic seamed to have a hard time latching onto living things here, he concluded after hitting a few passer-byes with harmless prank spells. They seamed slippery, sliding of their targets like water.

They were rather weak spells and he had cast them wandlessly which made them slightly unstable but they should not fade this quickly. If he cast the spells with the Elder Wand they would probably work better but that was a bit of overkill.

Several hours past and finally the man stopped, settling down on the edge of a decorated fountain. Harry, after watching a bit from a distance, concluded that he was probably waiting for himself.

“You’re persistent, I’ll give you that,” the man said when Harry came into view.

“And you’re more than a half decent tracker. Had trouble keeping tabs on you most of the time,”

Probably because, most of the time, Harry wasn’t actually following the man, relying predominately on his tracking charm.

“The name’s Kedd, navigator for this years exam, and I think you’re more than qualified to participate.”

“Thanks,” Harry answered, “I’m Harry,”

Kedd extended a hand and Harry, a bit on the weary side, shook it. So handshakes were a thing here.

“So, what does a navigator do?” he asked with interest, watching Kedd stand and brush himself off. They both started back in the direction of the restaurant.

Kedd looked at him surprised.

“So you’re a rookie,” he chuckled, “could have fooled me.”

Harry just shrugged like he knew why Kedd was surprised.

“A navigator guides exam applicants to the entrance. It’s almost impossible to find the exam without one.”

“and you do it every time,”

“I’m around most years,” Kedd ginned at him. So the Hunter exam was a yearly event. That might of made passing not quite as urgent except the tingle was telling him he needed to pass this year. He had had nothing but unpleasant experiences from the times he ignored the compulsion.

It was getting dark by the time they made it back to the restaurant.

“Welcome,” the Chef said before giving Harry a scowl.

Kedd stepped forward, “Is the back room open?”

The Chef paused in his scowling, glancing at Kedd.

“What will you have,” he asked and Harry got the feeling this exchange was some sort of pass code

“The steak combo that opens your eyes to the light. For one, thanks,” Kedd replied easily.

“Hmm, and how would you like it.”

Kedd walked past, motioning him to follow, “grilled over a low flame until cooked. ”

He pushed open the door to the back room, one that Harry had thoroughly examined several hours earlier.

“Here you go. Just wait here for a bit,”

He glanced around. The only difference was that, instead of four chairs, there was only one.

“Maybe I’ll see you around next year,” Kedd grinned again, moving to shut the door.

Kedd did not seem to have much faith in his ability to pass. It matched with the general vibe of the exam being exceptionally hard. Great. Just what he needed upon awakening in a new world. He hoped this Hunter License thing was worth it.

The room jolted, causing him to tense. There was a grinding and he began to descend. So the exam was under ground. That made a lot of sense.

Harry lent against the table and waited.


	3. Chapter 3

The elevator came to an abrupt halt. He looked up at the number, B100. If it came to a fight, getting back to the surface would be hard. Well, hard if he excluded apparition as a travel method. 

The door slid open with an ominous rumble and Harry exited. A long tunnel stretched before him, abruptly ending in a steel wall. Dispersed across this large space was a variety of people. 

Harry slowed, registering the hostile atmosphere. Danger. He shoved his hands into his pockets as nonchalantly as possible, gasping the Elder Wand. Subtly, he scanned the crowd, ascertaining threat levels. It was hard to do with so many people in one place. 

The hairs on the back to his neck rose. He could not see them but, among the crowd, there were some very dangerous individuals. The Elder Wand hummed beneath his fingers. A shadow of death hung over the crowd like a thick fog, causing his skin to itch. Many of the people standing before him would not survive the next two days. How depressing. They certainly weren’t kidding when they called this exam deadly. 

“Hello,” Harry flicked his gaze downwards, scanning the green frog-thing before him. The first non-human intelligent life he had seen since arriving. 

“Here is your number,” The frog thing extended a hand holding a white badge. On the badge was a number…181. Harry, still hyper aware of his surroundings, shifted his attention.

“Please wear it at all times and don’t lose it.”

He wordlessly took the badge, looking at the other applicants, all of whom where wearing numbers. 

After receiving his number the intense focus directed his way lessoned. He moved away from the entrance. Most likely whoever else walked through would get the same treatment and it was best not to be caught in the line of attention too often. He chose to sit nearer the edge of the group and closer to the wall. He did not know how long he would be here and he didn’t really feel like standing…or mingling. 

He noticed that, for a room of competitors, not a lot of them had chosen to stand against the wall, instead milling about the room. He supposed it was a statement of sorts, telling the other competitors that they had nothing to fear. 

Harry had long gotten over that need to prove himself. Pride, he found, could be a great hindrance when utilized incorrectly. At the back he wouldn’t be able to see the new people arrive but it gave him a good view of everyone so it was worth it. One could never be too cautious. 

He was there for quite a few hours before anything happened aside from a few other people arriving. 

Harry subtly watched with some trepidation as one of the other competitors headed in his direction. 

“Hello,” he threw a sideward glance at the small, chubby man. He was sporting a smile and all body clues pointed glaringly to harmless. Harry was instantly suspicious. 

“I haven’t seen you here before. Is it your first time here?” 

Harry was silent for several seconds, ascertaining whether he felt like conversing. He met the man’s eyes. There was a melodiousness bubbling across his surface thoughts. 

“Yeah, “ he settled on saying. No point in denying it. 

The man gave what he probably thought was a warm smile.

“I’m Tonpa,” Tonpa pointed to himself, “This is my 35th attempt, making me an exam veteran. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask.”

Harry raised an eyebrow. That was an awful lot of times to participate in a potentially deadly exam. Such a dedication pointed to either stubborn stupidity or an ulterior motive. Whatever the case may be here was a person willingly offering information. He would be a fool not to take advantage of the situation. 

“I do have a few questions,” Harry admitted mostly because it was true. 

Tonpa smiled, “Ask away. I always make an effort to look out for rookies like you,”

Harry lent against a pipe so he was in a more relaxed position. 

“What, exactly, is a Hunter?” he asked. Maybe he would finally be able to put some of his speculation to bed. 

“Huh?” Tonpa responded dumbly, the question catching him off guard. 

“I’m not one hundred per cent sure. You see,” he elaborated. He supposed it was an odd thing to be asking but he was sure, now he had made it to the actual exam, it would not hurt his chances. 

“Err,” Tonpa began, “A Hunter, well, Hunts something usually. You know, treasures and animals…dedicating themselves to the protection of knowledge, people and nature,” Tonpa answered, sounding very much like he was regurgitating some piece of writing. 

“They also arrest criminals, keep the peace, and stuff like that,” he finished. Harry nodded. That made sense and pretty much confirmed what he had already suspected. 

“And this Hunter exam gets you some sort of permit,”

Tonpa gave him a confused expression, “You mean a Hunter License,” 

“Right. That’s what I meant,” Harry agreed easily. 

“What’s a Hunter License?” he asked. It seemed like something he should know, considering he was trying to get one, and it was better he found out now rather than later. 

Tonpa now appeared to be a combination of confused and annoyed.

“Hunters are supposed to be the best of the best…um…the License is proof. If you’ve got a license then organizations are more likely to hire you.”

Tonpa paused. 

“Is that it,” didn’t sound that special. 

“Uh, a lot of public facilities are available for free. And it gets you almost unrestricted access to most countries. You can also sell them for heaps of cash.”

Unlimited access? That sounded very useful. It also showed how influential whoever organized this Hunter thing was if it transcended international laws. Countries or nations, in his experience, rarely co-operated with each other like that without some intervening external force. 

“Oh! I almost forgot,” Tonpa exclaimed, rifling around in his bag, “Here,”

He held up a can of soda, “this is for you. To symbolize our new friendship.”

Slightly bemused, Harry took the drink. He held the can between his figures, allowing magic to seep through the aluminum and into the liquid. Harmful substance detected. Not deadly but nothing good. 

“Thanks,” he said simply, putting the can in his coat pocket. Might be useful sometime and it was not like he didn’t have the space, what with the Cloak’s innate expansion charms. 

Tonpa looked mildly annoyed at his response. So that was it then, the source of the malicious intent. It appeared that Tonpa was participating in some sort of rookie targeting. 

“Well,” Tonpa laughed, “I’ll be off then. If you have any other question’s I’ll be around.” 

Harry lifted a hand in the air as Tonpa went to hassle someone else. It was common sense not to take drinks from other people when in a life or death competition. Especially when meeting them for the first time. He wondered how many people Tonpa actually managed to trick. 

Harry settled himself down into a comfortable cross-legged position. The best of the best…he needed to be the best without drawing attention to himself. Well…he needed to be better than a majority of the exam participants. 

He let his eyes drift over the other competitors, calmly taking in the variety of people present. The slight tension, the one signaling danger, had not lessoned and he was determined to at least pick out the more dangerous people here. 

There… A man dressed as a clown was exuding a restless blood lust so potent that the people around him were subconsciously giving way. You would have to be very unobservant or very unlucky not to notice something like that. There was an odd hum, as if the air around him were made of static. 

In all his long years of traveling he had come across people with all sorts of abilities. Power came in many shapes and forms. The fact that his magic had trouble sticking to the living of this world meant they probably had some sort of developed internal energy system. With that sort of thing usally came weird abilities. In this exam situation, where there were many people, Harry was hesitant to do any further experimentation.

Harry resolved to tread carefully. It was best to avoid unnecessary conflict. Until he knew more about this world he would be at a disadvantage in any altercation. He picked out several others who were potentially dangerous, though no one stood out as obviously as the clown guy. 

Aside from wounding if the green frog thing was a dominant species alongside humans Harry had little to do for the next several hours. More people arrived as evident from then sudden and periodic shifts in the groups attention. Even though he couldn’t see the door the increase in murmuring usually signaled how interesting the person entering was.

Harry reckoned it was a good five hours until something else happened. 

“AHHHH!”

The loud, pain filled scream broke the tense silence. There were a few shouts of surprise and a lot of uneasy shuffling. Harry got to his feet warily, looking for its source.

He slipped through the crowd, carful to avoid disturbing anyone. 

He eyed the source of the screaming. A man, quite tall, was hunched over and clutching his arms… or what had been his arms. The appendages seamed to be in the process of converting to papery flowers, which drifted upwards and disintegrated. 

“When you bump into someone you really should apologies,” 

The voice, despite being spoken rather neutrally, garnered the rooms attention. Weird clown guy…Harry knew creepy when he saw it. With no sign of further escalation Harry focused on the poor armless sod curled on the ground. Luckily, whatever odd technique had been used, it wasn’t lethal. He didn’t feel the tell tail warmth usually experienced when magic was in use which meant that this was a native offensive technique utilizing some other force, confirming his earlier speculation. 

Something to investigate and look out for. He rubbed his head, retreating to the back of the group. What a pain…it was always trickier when the people around him also had weird powers. There was nothing more cumbersome than an even playing field. 

Well, he guested that was one less competitor in the competition.

The quiet was once again broken, this time by an alarm. The wall blocking off the tunnel gave a loud rumble and begun to rise. The competitors all turned and Harry stood again, brushing himself off. Standing on the other side was a man in a purple suit. Harry noted his distinct lack of mouth and ridiculously curled mustache. Another non-human species perhaps?

“The Entry for Hunter applicants had ended.”

The odd mustached man began, making an elaborate gesture.

“The Hunter exam will now begin”

Exited murmuring followed the statement, which was silenced when man continued. 

“A final caution. If you are short of luck or ability you could very well end up seriously injured or dead,”

“Those who accept the risks please follow me. Otherwise please exit by the elevator behind you,” Harry flicked his eyes back to the elevator. There was a slight shift in the air and the death shadow seamed to draw closer. For many of the people here this chance to leave would be the difference between life and a path to death. 

Unsurprisingly, no one decided to leave. Harry sighed… people were silly like that. 

“Very well,” mustache guy announced, dramatically spinning, “All 404 applicants will participate in Phase One.”

He took one very big exaggerated step, striding away into the dark of the tunnel. 

After some confused muttering the rest the group began to follow. Harry trailed behind in a perplexed manner, keeping pace as the group began to slowly speed up. 

When it came to physical fitness Harry was no slouch. However, aside from spending a lot of time on the move, traveling –he did a few stretches every morning- he didn’t do much extra training. So this endurance test, and it defiantly was an endurance test, wasn’t the best match for him. 

Magic made up for his physical shortcomings. He began to slowly circulate it through his muscles, moving it from his core to his outer limbs. Any fatigue immediately vanished. This kind of magical enhancement was tricky, stuff it and you could really mess yourself up, it also put undue strain on the body. But he had had a lot of practice. 

And so they all ran…down the tunnel, past many a small entrance, hopefully towards phase two of the exam. 

Harry occupied himself by committing his fellows to memory, examining them in more detail. You never knew when information like that would be useful and now was the perfect chance to get a good look at everyone.

A tall, deformed man with pins sticking out of his face and body caught his eye. For such an odd guy he was doing a remarkable job of not drawing any attention to himself. Perhaps is was the deathly chill but he seamed to slip by people without their notice. Harry probably wouldn’t have noticed himself if it had not been for the haze of loss clinging to the man like a light mist. A residue of death that usually collected around those who saw it a lot. He also had an aura of staticy energy similar to the creepy clown guy. Harry put him firmly on his list of people to avoid. 

In his examinations he spotted Gon, Kurapike and Leorio all of who had made it to the exam. Not unexpected. 

Overall the ‘running through a tunnel’ portion of the exam past quietly and was successful in cutting down quite a few applicants. Eventually, they hit some stairs-which were rather annoying-and a hill, after that a shift in the stale air suggested that they were nearing the end. It was a rather well thought out first exam phase and practically non-lethal so he supposed whoever ran this Hunter Exam wasn’t completely sadistic. 

Finally, the stairs came to an end. 

Harry, who was further towards the back of the group, was one of the last to exit. He blinked in the sudden brightness, taking in the dense fog that surrounded the small field of grass everyone was occupying. 

“Hey Harry!” A cheerful voice greeted. Harry squinted to the left at Gon who was seated next to the entrance. 

“Haha. I knew you would make it…181, you were a lot quicker than us. Did you have to do find the imposter as well?” 

Imposter? Before he could question the odd enquiry heavy panting from behind signaled Leorio’s approached. He moved to the side and watched the man drag himself over the last step. Kurapike jogged up leisurely a few seconds later.

“Leoeio! Kurapike!” 

Gon was distracted by the others arrival. Harry slipped away to observe the dense forest, which was slowly being revealed as the fog lifted. There was nothing to indicate that this was their final destination. 

He supposed there might be more running his future.


End file.
